Etsy Roundup: TMNT Edition

Etsy is an interesting place. I go there and search every once in a while but I think I’ve only bought things a couple times. Out of curiosity today I searched for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to see what popped up, and what follows are some of the coolest items I found.

Some people seem to confuse Etsy with eBay, so I didn’t include anything like vintage clothes, action figures, or things that weren’t made by someone (or at least upcycled). These are all things I would buy if I felt like dropping money on more TMNT stuff for my collection.

Knitted things and crocheted things pop in to my mind first when I think of Etsy, so how appropriate that I found this adorable cup cozy featuring the Turtles’ arch-nemesis, The Shredder. There’s a lot to love about this, and when else will you get to use Shredder and cozy in the same sentence?

Bead sprites are another thing that pop up a lot on Etsy when you search for retro things, and rightly so. Physical versions of pixelated video game sprites is just an awesome idea, and I particularly love this Leonardo sprite. It’s pretty big, and since Leo was my go-to-Turtle when I played the TMNT games, I’d love to throw him up on the wall of my office.

What better way to show your respect for the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles video game by ripping out the insides and turning it into a hard drive? Seeing as how this was the most frustrating game ever, the cover art was one of the best things it had going for it, so why not admire it on your desk and use it to store your digital crap at the same time?

I had to include something that used this fabric. I’m sure a lot of you had sheets, pillowcases, or blankets made from this when you were kids. I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned it here before, but my Grandma made me a blanket out of this fabric when I was five years old and it is literally my most prized possession. I could probably write an article about it.

Anyway, I don’t know how thrilled my wife would be about a TMNT oven mitt hanging in our kitchen, but it’s so cute. How could you not love it?

Who knew old comic books looked so cool plastered all over stuff? You’ll find a lot of that on Etsy, and I found these pencils when I was searching through all the TMNT stuff. These would look great in a cup on my desk, but I’d feel bad about actually using them.

There are a lot of plush toys on Etsy, but this Felt Donatello stood out as the most cute TMNT product I saw. Look at his little bo staff! It’s so cute! I dont’ know what you could really do with this if you bought it other than carry it around in your pocket all the time, but that sounds good to me.

Ok, so this one comes dangerously close to my is-it-really-handmade rule about Etsy, but the fact is I’m too lazy to find a high-res image, crop it, and get it printed as a poster. I’d gladly pay someone else $12 to do that, especially when it’s the cover to my favorite video game of all time.

“This is an original poster created and designed by me” he says. Yeah yeah, just give me a poster. Also, I like how he included the SNES and Genesis in his image for a game that only came out on the NES.

At $85, this is one of the pricier items on my list but come on! It’s a freaking ooze canister! I’ve wanted one of these for a long time, and I don’t know why they’ve never released an official replica. Etsy user RichStuff is a true hero, even offering to etch TGRI instead of TCRI if you’re like me and you prefer the acronym from the movies. Also, he uses it in his kitchen to hold dishwashing soap. New best friend.

Patrick Flynn is a painter who was inspired by his son’s collection to start creating oil still-life paintings of PEZ dispensers. There’s something very awesome about an oil panting based on the silly plastic sugar dispensers, but it’s even better when it’s a Ninja Turtle. You can grab prints for $15, or the original for $75.